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2015 New-Vehicle Sales Reaches 17.5 Million Units

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. — December new-vehicle sales totaled 1.6 million units, a 9% increase from the year-ago period, according to Autodata Corp. For the year, the industry sold 17.5 million units, a 5.7% increase from 2014 totals.

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The December SAAR was 17.34 million, a 2.5% increase from a year ago but down from November’s 18.19 million. The following is a breakdown of sales by manufacturer.

BMW: U.S. sales for the BMW Group, including BMW and MINI, totaled 39,634 units — a more-than 17% decrease compared to December 2014. For the year, sales increased 2.2% from a year ago to a record 404,537 units.

MINI USA reported December sales of 5,009 units, a 24.3% decrease from its 2014 performance, while sales of BMW brand vehicles fell 16.6% from a year ago to 34,625 units sold. For the year, sales of the BMW Brand increased 1.8% from a year ago to 346,023.

By model, BMW’s X5 set a new sales record with 54,997 units sold in 2015, a 17% from a year ago. The BMW M brand also set a new U.S. sales record with 14,504 units sold — an increase of 68% compared to 2014. The automaker also reported that full-year sales of its i3 EV reached 11,024 units sold.

Chrysler: FCA US LLC realized its best December sales ever and its 69th consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains, with sales for the month increasing 13% from a year ago to 217,527 units. Year-to-date sales through December increased 7.3% from a year ago to 2.2 million units sold.

Powering the group in December was the Jeep brand, which realized its 27th consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains and its best monthly sales ever. Jeep sales increased 42% from a year ago to 89,654 units. For the year, sales increased 25% from 2014 to 865,028 units. Leading the way were the Jeep Cherokee, Compass and Renegade, each realizing their best monthly sales ever. Realizing their best December ever were the Wrangler and Patriot.

Ram brand sales in December increased 4% from a year ago to 50,463 units sold. For the year, sales increased 4% to 493,807 units sold. Leading the way were the Ram ProMaster and Ram ProMaster City. The prior posted its best monthly sales ever, while the latter recorded its best sales month since its launch last January.

Chrysler brand sales in December fell 21% from December 2014 to 24,292 units sold, while full-year sales increased 5% to 324,846 units. Dodge sales increased 6% in December to 49,256 units sold — the brand’s best December in three years. Year-to-date sales, however, fell 10% to 517,153 units sold.

Ford: The domestic automaker posted its best annual sales performance since 2006 and realized its best December sales since 2005. For the year, Ford sold 2.6 million units, a 5% increase over 2014. For December, sales increased 8% from a year ago to 239,242 units.

Sales of Ford’s F-Series trucks totaled 85,211 units in December — a 15% increase from a year ago and the first time in a decade the F-Series broke through 85,000 units sold for the month. For the year, F-Series sales totaled 780,354 units, a 3.5% increase from 2014 sales.

Ford’s SUV sales in December increased 13.2% from a year ago to 65,675 units, the segment’s best December performance since 2003. The Ford Fusion also posted record December results, with 25,576 units sold.

Lincoln realized its best December since 2006, with sales totaling 10,860 units — a 12% increase from a year ago and a 13% retail gain from a year ago. For all of 2015, sales increased 7.1% from a year ago to 101,227 units sold.

General Motors: December sales for the domestic automaker increased 6% from a year ago to 290,230 vehicles delivered. The increase was driven by an 8% year-over-year increase in retail deliveries and the company’s 26th consecutive month of commercial sales growth.

For the year, Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac dealers delivered 3.1 million vehicles, an 8% increase in retail deliveries compared to 2014. Total sales were up 5%. According to the company, GM’s retail deliveries have grown every month since March 2015, driven by strong crossover and truck sales.

Combined, Chevrolet and GMC sold 1.2 million trucks in 2015, a 14% increase compared to all of 2014. Leading the way for Chevrolet was the Silverado, which realized its best December since 2005 with a 10% sales increase from a year ago. Leading the way for GMC, which posted a 23% increase in truck deliveries, was the Sierra, which realized a 17% sales increase from a year ago.

Leading the way in the crossover category was the Chevrolet Equinox, which realized its seventh consecutive sales increase in December. Five other crossovers, the Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Encore, GMC Acadia and Terrain, and the Cadillac SRX posted their best-ever annual sales.

Honda: The Japanese automaker reported its best annual sales ever with 1.6 million Honda and Acura vehicles sold for the year — a 3% increase from all of 2014. By division, Honda set a new annual mark with sales increase 2.6% from a year ago to 1.4 million units, while Acura sales increased 5.6% from a year ago to 177,165 units sold.

Honda sales in December increased 12.2% from a year ago to 134,000 units sold. Leading the way was the Accord with 35,056 units sold, followed closely by the Civic and CR-V at 32,796 and 31,185 units sold, respectively. Combined, Honda’s core models topped the one million-unit mark for the third straight year.

Sales of Acura cars in December fell 11.3% to 5,627, while sales of Acura trucks fell 12/8% to 11,196 units sold.

Hyundai: Hyundai reported its best year ever with sales totaling 761,710 units, a 5% increase from 2014 and the sixth consecutive year of record U.S. sales. For December alone, sales dropped 1.5% from a year ago to 63,508 units.

Leading the way was the automaker’s CUV segment, with the Tucson realizing a 34% sales gain for the year and a 167% sales increase in December. Also topping the list was the Santa Fe, which realized a 9% sales increase from a year ago.

The brand’s best-selling vehicle for December, however, was its Sonata, with 22,820 units sold. For the year, the best-selling vehicles were the Sonata and Elantra, with 213,303 and 241,706 units sold, respectively. The Genesis also realized a notable 15% sales increase from a year ago.

Mazda: Mazda reported December sales of 29,294 units, an 18.1% increase from a year ago. For the year, the automaker sold 319,184 units, a 4.4% increase over 2014 and the company’s best full-year sales mark since 1994.

Retail sales alone totaled 290,918 units for the year, a 4.3% increase over 2014 and the automaker’s best retail-only performance since 1994.

Big contributors to the brand’s performance in December were the Mazda3 and CX-5. The Mazda3 posted its best December sales performance since 2012 with 9,838 units sold, a 1.2% increase from a year ago. Sales of the CX-5 totaled 11,417 units, a 47.9% increase from December 2014. For the year, CX-5 sales eclipsed more than 100,000-unit sales for the first time ever, while the Mazda3 realized its best annual sales performance since 2012 with 8,591 units sold.

Mercedes-Benz: The brand reported December sales of 38,918 units sold, a 1.7% increase from a year ago and the automaker’s highest volume month ever. For the year, the German automaker posted its highest annual volume in the U.S. market with 380,461 units sold, a 3.8% increase over 2014.

Leading the way in December was the C-Class, M/GLE-Class and E-Class model lines with 7,023, 6,310 and 4,999 units sold, respectively. For the year, the C-Class led the way with 86,080 units sold, followed by the M/GLE-Class with 53,213 units sold. The E-Class finished third with 49,736 units sold for the year.

Mitsubishi: Mitsubishi sold 7,887 vehicles during December, a 20.5% sales increase from a year ago and the brand’s 22nd consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases. For the year, the automaker sold 95,342, increasing 22.8% over 2014 and the company’s best annual sales since 2008.

The Outlander and Outlander Sport CUVs were big sales drivers during December, combining for 5,292 units sold for the month. The Outlander posted a 76.6% sales increase from a year ago with 1,936 units sold, while the Outlander Sport posted a 21.8% sales increase with 3,356 units sold.

Nissan: Nissan sold a record 139,300 units in December, an increase of 19% from the year-ago period. For the year, the Japanese automaker sold an all-time record 1.5 million units in the U.S. market, a 7% increase over 2014 sales.

The Nissan division finished December with 124,207 units sold, an 18% increase from a year ago and a December record. Sales of Nissan’s crossovers, trucks and SUVs also set a December, with segment sales increasing 41% from a year ago. Leading the way was the Rogue with 26,479, a 78% increase from a year ago.

Leading the way in the car segment was the Altima with 29,462 units sold in December, followed by the Sentra with 19,760 units sold in December — a 28.4% increase from the year-ago period.

Toyota: The Japanese automaker sold 238,250 in December, a 10.8% increase from a year ago on a volume basis. On a daily selling rate basis, sales were up 2.9%, partly due to two additional selling days in December, officials noted.

For the year, Toyota motor Sales sold 2.5 million units, a 5.2% increase from a year ago.

Toyota Division posted record December sales of 196,970 units, a 12.4% increase from a year ago. For the year, the division sold 2.2 million units, up 4.5% over 2014 sales. Leading the way in December were the Camry and RAV4 with 37,299 and 31,866 units sold, respectively.

The Lexus division reported an all-time monthly sales record in December with 41,380 units sold, a 3.8% increase from a year ago. For the year, Lexus sales totaled 344,601 units, a 10.7% increase from a year ago.

Volkswagen: Volkswagen reported sales of 30,956 units in December, a 9.1% decrease from the prior year period. For the year, sales fell 4.8% to 349,440 units sold.

The Tiguan and Jetta were the brand’s best sellers in December. The Jetta posted sales of 14,073 units, while the Tiguan posted sales of 4,900 units in December — 131.6% more than it did in 2014.

Audi reported sales of 202,202 units for all of 2015, an 11.1% increase over 2014. For the month of December, sales increased 6% from a year ago to 20,399 units sold.

Leading the way in the SUV category was the Audi Q3 and Q5, both achieving all-time record sales in December with 66.6% and 33.1% sales increases in December, respectively. The Audi A3 also performance well, posting a 20.9% sales increase for the month of December and a 61.7% sales increase for the year.